Mani Haghighi

Directing

Mani Haghighi

Born 1969-07-16 · Tehran, Iran

Mani Haghighi (b.1969, Tehran) studied philosophy at McGill University, Montreal before returning to Iran to make films. His first feature, Abadan (2003) premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. His screenplay for Asghar Farhadi’s Fireworks Wednesday (2006, co-written with the director) won the Special Jury Prize at the Three Continents Festival, Nantes. His second feature film, Men at Work (Berlinale, Forum 2006) won the Best Screenplay Prize at the 2007 Asian Film Awards (Hong Kong) and the Best Screenplay Prize in the international section of the Fajr Film Festival (Tehran). Canaan (2008), based on a short story by Alice Munro, was followed by two documentary films on the works of the acclaimed Iranian director, Dariush Mehrjui: Hamoon’s Fans (2007), about the curious lives of six Iranians who are devoted fans of Mehrjui’s 1989 film, “Hamoon”, and Dariush Mehrjui: The Forty Year Report (2012), a feature length documentary about Mehrjui’s life and works. His fourth feature film, Modest Reception (Berlinale, Forum 2012), received the NETPAC Award at the Berlin Film Festival, the Free Spirit Award at the Warsaw Film Festival, the Best Actor and Best Actress prizes at the OSIAN’s Cinefan Festival in New Delhi as well as a few other international prizes. Haghighi has also acted in several films, including Asghar Farhadi’s About Elly (Berlinale, competition 2009) and Nima Javidi’s Melbourne (2014), as well as his own film, Modest Reception.

Acting credits

Amphibious poster
3.9

Some people are amphibians; half spirit and half animal - as spirits they belong to the eternal world, but as animals they inhabit time. If they don't sneak underwater, they'll get squashed.

Amphibious

2020

About Elly poster
7.5

The mysterious disappearance of a kindergarten teacher during a picnic in the north of Iran is followed by a series of misadventures for her fellow travelers.

About Elly

2009

The Ghost Valley's Treasure Mysteries poster
6.4

A satirical comedy about a poor farmer who, while plowing his field, accidentally uncovers an ancient burial chamber loaded with gold artifacts. Realizing that the trove would somehow liberate him from his bumpkin existence, he brings pieces of it to a jeweler in the city.

The Ghost Valley's Treasure Mysteries

1974

Azar, Shahdokht, Parviz va digaran poster
4.0

Shahdokht who is the wife of the famous actor Parviz, accidentally enters the world of cinema by being cast as an actress in Parviz's last film and becomes a serious rival for him. He becomes jealous of her and their relationship becomes sour. Until their daughter who lives in Europe is suddenly return home without a notice.

Azar, Shahdokht, Parviz va digaran

2014

The Slaughterhouse poster
6.1

Amir, recently released from prison in France, finds himself back in Iran and in over his head when his father, a slaughterhouse worker, calls him to help him cover up a crime which has happened there.

The Slaughterhouse

2020

Meet the Witch poster
NR

The film "Meeting the Wizard" is the story of two gentlemen, one is naive and the other is clever, and tries to increase his wealth with big deals, while the simpler gentleman fantasizes about his life.

Meet the Witch

2024

Sly poster
4.0

Ghodrat Samadi wants to become a member of parliament, but he has a reputation for recklessness and taking arbitrary action. Deciding his best course of action is negotiating with assorted parties and politicians, none take him seriously until he's connected to a single, notorious incident.

Sly

2018

Modest Reception poster
6.4

An Iranian couple from the city drive around a remote mountainous region. They hand out bags of money to poor villagers in return for them carrying out unusual requests the couple make of them.

Modest Reception

2013

A Dragon Arrives! poster
6.0

On Jan. 22, 1965, the day before the Iranian prime minister is assassinated, a car drives up to a shipwreck. Inside the wreck, a banished political prisoner has hung himself and the walls are covered in diary entries, literary quotes, and strange symbols. Fifty years later, the evidence, including intelligence tape recordings, is found in a box. The contents attest to the fact that the inspector and his colleagues were arrested, but why?

A Dragon Arrives!

2016

Melbourne poster
6.3

Amir and Sara are a young couple on their way to Melbourne to continue their studies. However, just a few hours before the departure of their flight, they are unintentionally involved in a tragic event.

Melbourne

2014

Cheshm O Goosh Baste poster
5.4

Two people find themselves in the middle of a murder plot. One can't hear and the other one can't see.

Cheshm O Goosh Baste

2019

The Warden poster
7.0

In 1967, an old prisoner in southern Iran is being evacuated because of the proximity to the city's new airport. The head of the prison, Major Nemat Jahed, and his agents are busy transferring prisoners to the new prison, until ...

The Warden

2019

Me poster
4.5

Me is written and directed by Soheil Beiraghi and produced by Saeed Sa’adi and Saeed Khani. The film is about Azar (Leila Hatami), a woman who acts as a middle-man for those seeking illicit goods. According to Beiraghi: “I didn’t want to portray an ordinary woman, but the one who is living a double life. She is a rebellious woman who rebels against the law and individuals.” Me was officially selected in the Certain Regard section at the 34th Fajr International Film Festival.

Me

2016

50 Kilos of Sour Cherry poster
4.2

When the corrupted groom starts shooting in the wedding ceremony, guests try to run away. Aida and Davoud accidentally end up in a car that crashes a police car. Aida lies to the inspector that Davoud is her husband and that's where the story begins.

50 Kilos of Sour Cherry

2016

No Men Allowed poster
6.0

In order to prepare her best and brightest for the upcoming chemistry Olympiad, strict, conservative headmistress Ms. Darabi is forced to break her lifelong rule of not allowing male teachers in the school and reluctantly hires the bumbling Mr. Jebeli. Little does she know though that several of her students, led by the self-assured Paria, have a plan to get her to fall in love with him. 'No Men Allowed' is a hilarious, rollicking romcom, chock-full of witty dialogue and zany antics that will have you coming back time and time again!

No Men Allowed

2011

We Are All Together poster
3.4

The adventure of a plane crash with passengers who have different secrets; the secrets that are not supposed to remain hidden forever...

We Are All Together

2019

Won't You Cry? poster
NR

A man loses the ability to cry after the death of his younger brother. As he deals with grief and the separation from his wife, he tries to reconcile his job at a football website with depression and a lack of meaning in life.

Won't You Cry?

2022

Beloved Sky poster
2.5

A young doctor whose name Shayan is got cancer. He decides to commit suicide but in the last moments something is happening that lead him to a remote village.

Beloved Sky

2011

Negar poster
4.2

According to the police, Negar's father committed suicide. Having had a happy life, Negar suspects that his death has not happened the way it seems. She starts unfolding the truth through an unconventional investigation.

Negar

2017

Behind the camera

Subtraction poster
6.7

After a confusing interaction in downtown Tehran, a married couple seems to have found their doppelgängers.

Subtraction

2022

Subtraction poster
6.7

After a confusing interaction in downtown Tehran, a married couple seems to have found their doppelgängers.

Subtraction

2022

Pig poster
5.8

A serial killer is going around killing Iran's most beloved filmmakers. Hasan, a blacklisted filmmaker himself, is depressed and wonders: why isn't he being targeted?

Pig

2018

Pig poster
5.8

A serial killer is going around killing Iran's most beloved filmmakers. Hasan, a blacklisted filmmaker himself, is depressed and wonders: why isn't he being targeted?

Pig

2018

Pig poster
5.8

A serial killer is going around killing Iran's most beloved filmmakers. Hasan, a blacklisted filmmaker himself, is depressed and wonders: why isn't he being targeted?

Pig

2018

Abadan poster
NR

An old Iranian man disappears while searching for a friend who's been dead ten years, so his agitated daughter enlists her estranged husband to look for him; the husband puts his foot down at first but soon finds himself cruising the streets of Tehran with his best friend, searching for the old rascal and cursing all the way.

Abadan

2004

Abadan poster
NR

An old Iranian man disappears while searching for a friend who's been dead ten years, so his agitated daughter enlists her estranged husband to look for him; the husband puts his foot down at first but soon finds himself cruising the streets of Tehran with his best friend, searching for the old rascal and cursing all the way.

Abadan

2004

Canaan poster
5.9

Mina has decided to leave her older husband Morteza after ten years of marriage. Next Monday will be her divorce date, which means her first step towards her goal; immigration. However, the arrival of her older sister, Azar, together with the illness of her mother in law is causing her trouble. To her surprise, meanwhile, she finds out she is pregnant.

Canaan

2008

Canaan poster
5.9

Mina has decided to leave her older husband Morteza after ten years of marriage. Next Monday will be her divorce date, which means her first step towards her goal; immigration. However, the arrival of her older sister, Azar, together with the illness of her mother in law is causing her trouble. To her surprise, meanwhile, she finds out she is pregnant.

Canaan

2008

Fireworks Wednesday poster
7.4

Rouhi, a young bride-to-be, is hired as a maid for an affluent family in Tehran. Upon arriving, she is suddenly thrust into an explosive domestic conflict. The wife is convinced her husband is having an affair and enlists Rouhi as a spy, to follow her husband, and confirm her suspicions. What Rouhi discovers, however, threatens not only their marriage but her own future.

Fireworks Wednesday

2006

Modest Reception poster
6.4

An Iranian couple from the city drive around a remote mountainous region. They hand out bags of money to poor villagers in return for them carrying out unusual requests the couple make of them.

Modest Reception

2013

Modest Reception poster
6.4

An Iranian couple from the city drive around a remote mountainous region. They hand out bags of money to poor villagers in return for them carrying out unusual requests the couple make of them.

Modest Reception

2013

A Dragon Arrives! poster
6.0

On Jan. 22, 1965, the day before the Iranian prime minister is assassinated, a car drives up to a shipwreck. Inside the wreck, a banished political prisoner has hung himself and the walls are covered in diary entries, literary quotes, and strange symbols. Fifty years later, the evidence, including intelligence tape recordings, is found in a box. The contents attest to the fact that the inspector and his colleagues were arrested, but why?

A Dragon Arrives!

2016

A Dragon Arrives! poster
6.0

On Jan. 22, 1965, the day before the Iranian prime minister is assassinated, a car drives up to a shipwreck. Inside the wreck, a banished political prisoner has hung himself and the walls are covered in diary entries, literary quotes, and strange symbols. Fifty years later, the evidence, including intelligence tape recordings, is found in a box. The contents attest to the fact that the inspector and his colleagues were arrested, but why?

A Dragon Arrives!

2016

A Dragon Arrives! poster
6.0

On Jan. 22, 1965, the day before the Iranian prime minister is assassinated, a car drives up to a shipwreck. Inside the wreck, a banished political prisoner has hung himself and the walls are covered in diary entries, literary quotes, and strange symbols. Fifty years later, the evidence, including intelligence tape recordings, is found in a box. The contents attest to the fact that the inspector and his colleagues were arrested, but why?

A Dragon Arrives!

2016

To stay poster
NR

A conversation with a number of prominent Iranian painters who decided to stay in Tehran during the missile attacks.

To stay

2001

To stay poster
NR

A conversation with a number of prominent Iranian painters who decided to stay in Tehran during the missile attacks.

To stay

2001

Mehrjui: The Forty-Year Report poster
NR

Mehrjui: The Forty-Year Report dives into the artistic world of Iranian director Dariush Mehrjui. The film offers critical interpretations of his works from cinema experts, enriched with personal anecdotes from his peers.

Mehrjui: The Forty-Year Report

2016

Mehrjui: The Forty-Year Report poster
NR

Mehrjui: The Forty-Year Report dives into the artistic world of Iranian director Dariush Mehrjui. The film offers critical interpretations of his works from cinema experts, enriched with personal anecdotes from his peers.

Mehrjui: The Forty-Year Report

2016

Hamoon Bazha poster
NR

Hamoon Bazha is a documentary film by Mani Haghighi. It is about a famous Iranian cult film named Hamoon directed by Dariush Mehrjui.

Hamoon Bazha

50 Kilos of Sour Cherry poster
4.2

When the corrupted groom starts shooting in the wedding ceremony, guests try to run away. Aida and Davoud accidentally end up in a car that crashes a police car. Aida lies to the inspector that Davoud is her husband and that's where the story begins.

50 Kilos of Sour Cherry

2016

50 Kilos of Sour Cherry poster
4.2

When the corrupted groom starts shooting in the wedding ceremony, guests try to run away. Aida and Davoud accidentally end up in a car that crashes a police car. Aida lies to the inspector that Davoud is her husband and that's where the story begins.

50 Kilos of Sour Cherry

2016

No artwork available
NR

Unorthodox Iranian filmmaker Mani Haghighi's lively, stimulating documentary profiles Nasser Bakhshi, a painter, conceptual artist, collector, and curator—and some would say hoarder—whose monumental archive creates a record of collective memory.

I Deserve a Lover Whose Every Rise Sets Fiery Dooms Raging Across the Skies

2026

Men at Work poster
6.6

A political allegory on four middle-class guys who pile into their car for a ski weekend. A brief stop at a picturesque vista leads to their chance discovery of a prominent rock formation it seems would be oh so easy to tip over, but...

Men at Work

2006